Breathing
by Lioness's Heart
Summary: Sequel to Returning. Post Invincible AU. Anakin's back, and he has his sights set on bringing Caedus down. As they infiltrate the Sith Lord's headquarters, they find their way barred by the one person who thinks that Anakin Solo is dead and gone...


**Disclaimer: Not. Mine.  
A/N: And here's the (not-so) long awaited sequel to **_**Returning**_**! This was rather fun to write, though it didn't turn out exactly as I pictured it, but it's acceptable. Don't forget to review!**

* * *

_It's good to be back,_ Anakin Solo thought as he watched his uncle. The young man had been dead for over thirteen years, and suddenly, here he was. The other Jedi in the small room were still dumbfounded. Anakin had been killed on the Myrkr mission, about three years into the war with the Yuuzhan Vong.

None of them had ever thought that they would see him again, for more than one reason – his body had been burned in a traditional Jedi funeral on Hapes. Not to mention, no one had ever returned from the dead, not even one of the Jedi.

"Er, of course, Anakin. You are welcome to join us," Luke said. The Grand Master of the Jedi Order shook his head, trying to clear it enough to think. This was a very interesting situation. If Anakin had come back from the dead through the Force…did that mean that Mara could, too? Anakin must have seen the look on his uncle's face, because he spoke.

"She won't come back, Uncle Luke. Aunt Mara knew that it was the end, and she won't come back. She said that she loves you, though. And she told me to tell you to 'kill the kriffing Sith', as she put it." A half smile flickered across Luke's face when Anakin said that, but only for a moment. His blue eyes clouded as he thought of his wife, who had been killed by Caedus several months before. The Jedi Master nodded and turned away.

Ben shifted and walked over to his father in an attempt to comfort him. Anakin watched for a moment, then turned to Kyp and Zekk, who were standing by the table that still had Zekk's datapad on it, to grant his uncle and cousin some privacy.

"What are the plans?" He asked. Zekk reached toward the table, picked up the datapad, and handed it to Anakin while still staring at the ice-eyed youth. "Zekk, stop staring. It's really me." Zekk blinked his dark-ringed emerald eyes several times.

"Oh. Sorry, Anakin." Zekk stepped away, rather weary of his old friends' younger brother.

"How did you do it?" Kyp asked. Anakin turned to frown at him.

"What?"

"Did you really die, or have you been alive all this time? If you did die, then how did you come back?" The middle-aged Jedi asked.

"I died, Kyp, on the Myrkr mission. How did I come back? An old friend taught me a thing or two about the Force…." Anakin gave Kyp one of the famous Solo grins. "I know what you're thinking. You can't use the technique unless you're dead, and even then, only a select few can, and I'm the only one who has ever tried it and gotten success. Don't even think about it, Kyp." Corran chuckled from where he stood, next to Kyp.

"The kid's got you figured out, Durron…" Corran said. Kyp gave Corran a look that said 'shut up or you _will_ regret it.' Everyone in the room chuckled at that.

"Alright, so. Let's get this figured out," Anakin said, holding up Zekk's datapad.

* * *

It was a few hour later when three of them – Anakin, Corran, and Zekk – crouched on top of the building where Caedus' apartment was located. They could feel his presence in the building. There was another one that was also very familiar, but the feelings coming from the other presence were so odd, tainted, that none of them could recognize who it was.

Anakin's grip on the spare lightsaber he had been given tightened. He closed his eyes for a moment, calming himself. He was surprised by how nervous he was. This was his brother, after all. For just a moment, he wondered what it would be like for Jacen if he was in Anakin's position.

There was a clatter in front of him, where Zekk had been working on getting the vent open. "Oops."

"What did you do, Zekk?" Corran asked, putting a hand over his face, covering his eyes for a moment.

"Uh. I dropped the grate and it made a loud noise?"

Corran made a noise of pure exasperation. "How did you drop it?! It wasn't even large enough to go through the blasted hole."

"I don't know, alright!"

Corran shook his head at the younger Jedi. Zekk shrugged and slipped into the opening. Corran followed, then Anakin.

They crawled through the shafts for quiet some time, checking their location every once in a while.

Finally, Zekk stopped crawling and started prying another grate open. Corran watched him pointedly until Zekk got annoyed.

"If you don't think I can do it without dropping it, why don't you just use the Force to levitate it?" Zekk was being a smart-aleck, and he knew it. Everyone in the Jedi Order knew that the Halcyon family had always had problems with telekinesis and that Corran was a Halcyon in all but name due to his father being adopted by Rostek Horn. Corran glared at Zekk, wishing several rather nasty things upon the Jedi Knight.

"Be quiet, bug-boy. You'll give away our position." After that comment, neither of the other Jedi spoke until Zekk had gotten the grille up. He checked the room beneath them, then he and Corran jumped down, landing softly on the mat below. Anakin followed after a slight pause.

Just a moment after they landed, a few small lights flickered on. The person standing in the doorway was certainly not Caedus. Anakin could tell that much even though he could not see who it was.

The snap-hiss of a lightsaber being activated filled the room. Anakin moved slightly, just enough that he could see who it was but they could not see who he was.

The sight of a young blond woman greeted him. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, giving her pretty features a harsh look. Vertical white lines stood out against the skin of her forehead. Those scars were the souvenir of time Anakin had rescued her from the Yuuzhan Vong shapers. His eyes ventured to hers. Instead of the clear green he was looking for, he saw yellow irises, tinged with orange close to the rim. There was only a slim corona of green surrounding the color her eyes had become.

"Tahiri, don't," Zekk said, holding up one hand. His other hand rested on his lightsaber.

"I am not Tahiri! My name is Darth Eresa!" She called. The blade she held was not the brilliant sapphire one that she had built at the academy on Yavin 4. It was the scarlet of fresh blood.

She took a step forward. Instantly, Zekk's yellow-orange blade was ignited and in a guard position. Within a moment, Corran's silver blade was ignited as well.

"And who's that behind you? That coward, Ben Skywalker?" She sneered. Zekk and Corran exchanged glances but did not move. Then they glanced at Anakin, who shook his head.

"No," he said. Anakin stepped out so that she could see him.

"Wha – no! You – you – but – you can't be Anakin! He's dead!" Tahiri shouted, reeling back.

"Tahiri, are you listening to yourself?" Anakin asked. "Do you hear what you just said?" He took a step closer to her. She was staring at him with horrified eyes.

"But, but, Anakin, you can't be! There's no way…is there?" Her expression softened slightly and she lowered her blade. Her hands shook as she held the hilt. Finally, she dropped it, letting the lightsaber extinguish.

Tears began to stream down her face as she watched him. Then she threw herself at him. It wasn't a lunge or an attack. It was that of a girl who had lost her best friend and first love, only to have him restored to her years later. She buried her face in his shoulder, sobbing. He patted her back, trying to comfort her.

She looked up at him then, tears filling her eyes and streaming down her face. Before either of them realized it, their lips met in a soft kiss.

_I feel like I was being choked and I can finally breathe again…_Tahiri thought.

It was then that a deep, malevolent chuckle resounded from a few feet away. "How touching. If only it wasn't so pitiful." The speaker stepped forward, a twisted smirk on his face. Once brandy brown eyes watched the small group. Dark Side yellow surrounded the black pupils. The dark haired man laughed, a bitter, dark sound.

"No matter what you do, you cannot win, Anakin Solo. It is over before you begin," Caedus said.

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**A/N: I know, I'm evil and I've given you a most horrible cliffhanger. Don't worry, there will be more, never fear. I've got it vaguely planned out in my head, but it may be a little while, as I'm working on several other things right now, but reviews give me more incentive to work, so don't forget to click that button and let me know what you think! **


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